"With 17 NBA All-Star selections, an NBA MVP, five NBA championships with the Lakers, two Olympic gold medals and a relentless work ethic, Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of our game," Silver said in a statement. The announcement drew a strong reaction, particularly from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. My mind can handle the grind but my body knows it's time to say goodbye." "This season is all I have left to give," he wrote on The Players' Tribune website. In November 2015, he announced that he would retire at the end of the season. Photo: Harry How/Getty ImagesĪlthough Bryant returned in time for the start of the 2015-2016 NBA season, he personally struggled alongside his young Lakers teammates. He scored 60 points against the Utah Jazz. Kobe Bryant during his final NBA game on Apat the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The veteran All-Star surpassed Michael Jordan for third all-time on the NBA scoring list in December 2014, but his season ended due to injury for the third straight year when he sustained a torn rotator cuff in January 2015.
Olympic teams, winning consecutive gold medals with teammates Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, among several other top players.Īfter suffering a torn Achilles tendon in April 2013, Bryant worked hard to return to the court before fracturing his knee just six games into the 2013-2014 season. The following year, the Lakers won their second straight title by defeating the Celtics.īryant played on both the 20 U.S. Shortly afterward, Bryant was part of the memorial service to honor friend and music superstar Michael Jackson. In the 2009 NBA Finals, the Lakers beat the Orlando Magic to win the championship. In 2008, Bryant was named Most Valuable Player and carried his team to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics. He scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006, the second-highest single-game mark in NBA history, and led the league in scoring that year and the next. He also inked multi-year endorsement deals with Adidas, Sprite and other top sponsors.Īlthough the Lakers struggled after O'Neal left in 2004, Bryant performed brilliantly. The shooting guard then teamed up with superstar center Shaquille O'Neal to win three consecutive NBA championships and was voted first-team all-NBA from 2002-2004. In his second season with the Lakers, Bryant was voted a starter for the 1998 All-Star Game, becoming the youngest All-Star in NBA history at 19. He was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick of the 1996 NBA draft and was subsequently traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Though he boasted good grades and high SAT scores, Bryant decided to go straight to the NBA from high school. With an eye on the NBA, he also started working out with the 76ers. When the family returned to Philadelphia in 1991, Bryant joined the Lower Merion High School basketball team, leading it to the state championships four years in a row.
Growing up in Italy alongside two athletic older sisters, Shaya and Sharia, Bryant was an avid player of both basketball and soccer. In 1984, after ending his NBA career, the elder Bryant took the family to Italy, where he played in the Italian League. Named after a city in Japan, Bryant is the son of former NBA player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. Kobe Bean Bryant was born on August 23, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On January 26, 2020, he was in a helicopter crash that killed Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gigi and seven others. In 2018, Bryant earned an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball. Although later seasons were marred by injuries, he surpassed Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring list in December 2014 and retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final game. A dominant scorer, Bryant won five NBA championships and the 2008 MVP Award with the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant spent his early years in Italy and joined the NBA straight out of high school.
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